5 Amazing Facts About US Presidents

Richard_Nixon_victory_wave

1. When President Bush Sr. attended a banquet hosted by the Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, he caused a media frenzy when he vomited on the Prime Minister. The incident has coined the term ‘Bushusuru’ in the Japanese language which means to “to do the Bush thing” or to publicly vomit.

2. Martin Van Buren was the first US President to be born a citizen of the United States, as all the presidents serving before him were born British subjects.

3. The most popular name for presidents is James, with six presidents bearing the name – Madison, Monroe, Polk, Buchanan, Garfield and Carter. Coming joint second is John and William with four each.

4. Richard Nixon was the first president ever to visit all 50 states, and the first to visit China. He was also the first and only president to resign.

5. The shortest inauguration speech ever was uttered by George Washington at a succinct 133 words and less than two minutes long. On the other hand, the longest in history was 8,578 words long, lasting a massive one hour, 40 minutes. William Henry Harrison gave his epically long speech during terrible weather and less than a month later he died from pneumonia, making his the shortest presidency ever.

To discover more little known facts about major historical figures, then subscribe to All About History.